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Considerations on the Evolution of War - nincomp - 04-18-2014
From the original post: 4) an evolved form of insurgency that employs all available power and networkspolitical, economic, social, militaryto convince an opponents decision-makers that their strategic goals are either unachievable or too costly.'"
On another thread, javelin missiles were mentioned. The last I heard, these things cost many shitloads of dollars each. This made me think of this thread.
What if an evolved insurgency decided to hit Americans' most sensitive spot--- their wallets.
As tragic as it may be, we Americans, as a group, become accustomed reports of killed and maimed soldiers in far-off lands. I am sad to say that when I viewed a posted video of an American convoy being attacked by taliban I had to remind myself that those were our soldiers being killed and maimed. If you think about it, this real video's quality was not nearly as good as those that we see every day in movies, TV, and video games. My guess is that the shooting conflicts are pretty much ignored by most Americans.
What if that same insurgency was able to use the internet and widely post the costs of:
a) Deploying our troops
b) Medical treatment needed for injured soldiers
c) Buying and replacing the weapons and equipment
d) Long term expenses for medical care and rehabilitation of our troops
e) Disability payments and Social Security expenses
----And then tell Americans how much this costs per working American and that this will RAISE OUR TAXES! I think that the American public would go berserk! At the very minimum, the American public would loudly insist that all of our troops immediately come home and stop wasting taxpayer money.
A much worse case scenario, and I do not agree with the following, but I will play fear-monger here:*
An extreme reaction (fairly unlikely, but possible) would be a larger version of the anti-government sentiment seen in the recent protest in Nevada. Few things upset people who consider themselves True Patriots than taxes. For groups that have a very strong anti-government feeling, even our troops would be evil. I mean, they DID VOLUNTEER to fight for the tyrannical Government. They could be considered neither brave patriotic, just paid minions of the Government willingly squandering of our nation's resources.
This would add a whole new perspective to a statement made by one of our own (about the Nevada incident, not the above):
"Patriots rising up against tyranny prevail! I hope it's a sign of more to come. This is far from over. "
At the risk of being cynical, it would not surprise me that some of the anti-government protesters at the Bundy Ranch would fall into the above category. Certainly some organized militias would. They would consider themselves Patriots for avoiding military service.
Damn. I scared myself so much that I need to sneak into my kid's room, steal her night-light and put it beside MY bed.
Considerations on the Evolution of War - JASmith - 04-18-2014
There was a PBS segment on the KGB that aired 10-15 years ago. It seems that the KGB spent 1 BILLION dollars in propaganda in the US during the Vietnam conflict. The investment seems to be paying dividends even today.
And yes, I think that bit of history trivia lends credence to your concerns.
Considerations on the Evolution of War - LRRPF52 - 04-18-2014
stanc Wrote:What you seem to be talking about is a modern version of what the ancient Spartans did. I think it sounds like an excellent way to "breed" warriors, but wouldn't such a school be beyond the financial means of most parents? That is, if you're talking about training the kids who would become enlisted personnel, not just the few sons of wealthy people who are aiming at a commission.
For example, I was interested in the military since about the age of 5, but my folks never had even a fraction of the funds necessary to send me to any kind of private school, let alone one such as you propose.
Parents are already getting fleeced to the tune of thousands per year on property taxes, which pay for the salaries and retirements payments of what was recently described in a pro-public school article as "educational care-takers" in reference to school shootings.
Parents should have the right to decide where their money goes with vouchers, since they are being robbed by government with threat of force and loss of property to finance forced schooling systems that are totally unworthy and unsuited to teach boys in my opinion, and I've attended a lot of public and private schools in my developmental years, to include on-base schools overseas, on-base schools Stateside, 7 different High Schools, who knows how many public elementary schools, and college courses before and during high school.
There was only one of those schools that would have been appropriate for me to stay at, and that was a local small town German school when we lived on the economy there before housing opened up for us. I had language immersion, and a positive attitude 30's something blonde female teacher who was actually British, no-nonsense, an excellent German speaker, and truly loved her job-that sense was very clear about the classroom environment there. She obviously spoke English, but refused to speak it with me for obvious reasons. The best thing that could have happened in my education track would have been to stay at that school and immerse in German. I loved it there. Instead, I got sucked into base housing, and had Norman Bates' mom for my 2nd Grade teacher, a burned-out elderly woman with a bad attitude who soon learned to despise me for my ability to draw, since she could not. A child should not feel these things from a teacher.
A lot of parents make sacrifices for their kids' education. My parents did, and if it meant I went to a private school with knee patches while other kids showed up in suits, so be it. There are also many opportunities for philanthropy. How many of us know business owners that are patriotic, and are painfully aware of the sub-standard educational trajectory of forced schooling? We went to Pop-eye's chicken last night after long-range shooting all day. Unfortunately, the products is of higher quality than the employees, and they couldn't get a simple order correct, failed to follow-up with fixing it after it was addressed, and were a general pack of ignoramuses.
A lot of businesses would love to invest in successful, sound educational models based on private sector solutions, rather than continue to sift through the slim pickings of what is spat forth from government schools.
Considerations on the Evolution of War - LRRPF52 - 04-18-2014
cory Wrote:Let me just say first and for most, I'm really enjoy following this thread now. It has really taken an interesting, worthwhile direction.
I fully agree with you LRPF52, but I'm not sure it's possible to raise a warrior class with the wussification of America's youth that's going on. However, I'm completely open to ideas to move in the direction of a Warrior Class that begins at childhood.
One of the great things about the rising popularity of the UFC is the rise of MMA style martial arts dojos across the country. These could and should be utilized by kids who show an interest in the military as a career.
I don't think this will fix the problem, but it may be a step in the right direction. Let me throw this out there and see what you think. What if the Marines and Army offered a program that allowed a kid to complete bootcamp during the summer before their senior or junior year of highschool. Setup a program at the state's reserve station that would train them, mentor them, and monitor them to insure they are meeting certain academic requirements. Then after graduating highschool they could be sent to their MOS school. Of course this would likely require an ~8 year commitment. What say y'all?
The product I would send to the military could be ruined in basic training quickly. Initial Entry Training for the military needs almost a total overhaul, and the mindset towards it is based really on 19th Century training philosophies. You get a sense of stepping back in time at many basic training bases in the US-good for tradition, but bad for training usually. The Marines traditionally have been very competitive with instructor slots, whereas Drill Sergeant assignments are loathed by many in the Army. There are some serious institutional problems with IET and AIT(MOS School), and that's even true with the Marines being subjected to lessened standards so females can make it through SOI. You won't see Russia with women in the airborne, naval infantry, or Spetsnaz units, for example.
I am a big fan of learning martial arts from youth, starting with less likely disciplines for injuries. The fine line to balance is understanding that kids are still developing their skeletal systems, hormone systems, nervous systems, and overall mind-body system, so we want to minimize injury, and maximize an efficient development of the total human being.
The trends in wussification in Western Culture will motivate a sizable portion of the population to seek alternatives, especially for boys.
Considerations on the Evolution of War - stanc - 04-18-2014
As I said, it sounds like an excellent idea. Are you working on getting such a warrior school created?